Sand Trap

From the Super Mario Wiki, the Mario encyclopedia
This article is about the minigame in Mario Party 9. For the obstacle in the Mario Golf series, see Bunker.
Sand Trap
MP9 2-Player Sand Trap.png
Appears in Mario Party 9
Type Bowser Jr. mini-game
Time limit 30 seconds
Music Bowser Jr. Battle 5

Sand Trap is a Bowser Jr. minigame in Mario Party 9. The name of this minigame is a play on "sand trap", an obstacle in golf.


Bowser Jr. stands in the top right corner of the field. Both players Ground Pound, and Bowser Jr. narrowly escapes as the block he was standing on disappears. He then taunts the players from his new square.


The pair must try to force Bowser Jr. to fall by removing the square he is standing on. One player can highlight rows, and the other player can highlight columns. The sand block where a glowed row and column intersect will disappear. However, if a player is not well aligned with the switch for the row or column, it will not be highlighted. A square stops being highlighted after one second. Bowser Jr. can be trapped and made easier to remove by eliminating all of the squares around the one he is standing on. If the players fail to drop Bowser Jr. within 30 seconds, Bowser Jr. is victorious.


If the players are victorious, Bowser Jr. will struggle in mid-air for a second before screaming and falling. The players strike victory poses.

In-game text[edit]

  • Rules"Drop Bowser Jr.! Ground-pound a switch to highlight a row of blocks. Do it at the same time as your team mate to make a block disappear where your two rows intersect."
  • Controls"Hold the Wii Remote sideways. Press +Control Pad to move, Two Button to jump, and Two Button while jumping to perform a ground pound."

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese 砂ばくの落とし穴
Sabaku no Otoshiana
Desert Pitfall
Spanish Trágame, tierra Swallow me, ground
French Sables croulants Pun with sables mouvants (quicksand) and croulant (crumbling)
German Sandtreibjagd Sand Traction Hunt
Italian Sabbie cadenti Falling Sands (pun on "Falling stars")
Chinese 沙漠陷阱
Shāmò xiànjǐng
Desert Trap